Pancrase appreciation thread

[Glumberjack]

We all loved PRIDE, but before PRIDE there was Pancrase. Before my MMA fandom/viewership reached a lull for a few years, I got into MMA by renting VHS copies of the early UFC events/tournaments from Blockbuster, which then led to my renting all of the Pancrase VHS tapes I could find at Blockbuster and another local video store called A-1 Video that had more obscure and unusual stuff, including lots of pro wrestling, UFC and Pancrase.

I got really into Pancrase -- even more so than the early UFCs -- because it seemed like the fighters were more skilled and the fights featured more action. Even the fact that closed fists to the face/head were disallowed seemed kind of cool -- the sound of the slaps and palm strikes was appealing. In fact in general that's one of the things I really liked and still like about Pancrase (and PRIDE): the sound. The way the ring sounds when coupled with the largely quiet and respectful Japanese crowds adds to the excitement of the fights; you can hear the strikes landing, the feet shuffling on the canvas, the ropes stretching, occasionally fighters screaming in pain (thinking particularly of Jason DeLucia's anguished cries after Bas hits him with a palm thrust in the liver to end their third fight)... the aesthetics of it were and are just great. At a time when the UFC mostly seemed to be a "toughman contest," Pancrase had guys who seemed much more well rounded -- the Shamrocks, Bas Rutten, Funaki, Suzuki, Mezger, etc. -- and could kickbox as well as grapple. The rules were, like PRIDE, set up to minimize stalling and maximize action, and there were many classic fights that I had the privilege of watching on those tapes.

So anyway, any other Sherdoggers have any good memories or favorite fights from the heyday of Pancrase they want to share/talk about? Talking mostly about '93-'97 and before the rules were changed to be more in line with standard MMA. Videos, pics, TLDR reminiscences -- all are welcome.

 

[beefcake180]

I can't really speak to the old stuff too much personally as far as memories wise but their cards on Fight Pass these days are surprisingly good. Always entertaining.

 

[Deleted member 490433]

I love my pancreas without it I would not be able to digest my food.
#LoveYourBody

 

[ralphus1]

Makes you appreciate how good Nate Marquart was back then.

 

[Reach4theSky]

I enjoyed watching Bas destroy dudes..

 

[Tiger_vs_Mantis]

I love prime Pancrase era (Rutten, Shamrock x 2, Funkai, Suzuki etc.). I really don't care for anyone who wants to diminish Pancrase and Pancrase-era fighters by saying it wan't 'real MMA.' In my opinion the rule set made absolute sense in rorder to create the product that many people wanted to see. Want submissions and fights that don't end because of cuts? Then take the gloves off. Don't want fights ended because of broken hands? Then no closed fists to the face. Want to prevent fighters getting tangled up inthe ropes? Then allow for rope escapes. It all combined to create some very interesting action.

I agree, also, with the appreciation of Pancrase's more subtle aspects. The sound of the boots on the mats, the colorful outfits....

Bas Rutten did a series where he provided commentary for basically every Pancrase fight he ever did. After teh second K. Shamrock fight he says almost off-handedly "and that was the last time I would lose a fight."

 

[Quillroots]

I loved Pancrase. I think the main beef with people saying Pancrase wasn't "real mma" is not because of the rules, it's because it was rigged.

 

[UPAZWITTS]

Haha... good memories. I remember renting UFC videos in college with buddies (94/95) and remember how blown away we were. After that, we checked out every VHS there was with fighting in it.

 

[MMAViewer]

Makes you appreciate how good Nate Marquart was back then.

And he was really young.
7 time champ!

And some awesome later fights too.
Kampmann
Wilson G.
Tyrone woodly
Thales L

 

[Glumberjack]

I love prime Pancrase era (Rutten, Shamrock x 2, Funkai, Suzuki etc.). I really don't care for anyone who wants to diminish Pancrase and Pancrase-era fighters by saying it wan't 'real MMA.' In my opinion the rule set made absolute sense in rorder to create the product that many people wanted to see. Want submissions and fights that don't end because of cuts? Then take the gloves off. Don't want fights ended because of broken hands? Then no closed fists to the face. Want to prevent fighters getting tangled up inthe ropes? Then allow for rope escapes. It all combined to create some very interesting action.

I agree, also, with the appreciation of Pancrase's more subtle aspects. The sound of the boots on the mats, the colorful outfits....

Bas Rutten did a series where he provided commentary for basically every Pancrase fight he ever did. After teh second K. Shamrock fight he says almost off-handedly "and that was the last time I would lose a fight."

Thanks for posting that video. Bas is one of the most enjoyable people in the world to hear talk about fights. His enthusiasm is infectious. You can tell he really loves fighting/MMA.

I agree re: "real MMA." The whole idea of designing your rules is/should be that they create a framework to keep the sport consistent with how you want it to be "played," as you said. The Pancrase founders didn't want fights to end via cut or broken hands so strikes to the face/head were limited to open hand attacks and they didn't want fights to be boring marathons of one guy lying on top of the other so they had ways of restoring the action to the feet. Most Pancrase fights are exciting and pretty fast-paced as a result. Some people say there were more submissions because the ground games of the fighters weren't very advanced, which in some cases is certainly true, but there's no question in my mind that there were a greater number of submissions because the fighters had full use of their hands. In most MMA promotions the grappling is (severely) limited by the presence of gloves; there is simply no way that the techniques can be performed as cleanly with gloves.

Here's the fight with the palm strike to the liver that I mentioned in my original post:


And of course we all know this GIF, from one of my favorite fights of all time, not just from Pancrase:

 

[BeardotheWeirdo]

The early Pancrase cards are fucking awesome.

If anybody doesn't know the fighters but are curious, find Pancrase: The Best, Vol. 1 & 2. They can be found on torrent sites. Both are just non-stop awesomeness, and will introduce you to all the main guys very quickly.

They were up on Youtube not too long ago but I guess Pancrase made them take them down

 

[Glumberjack]

The early Pancrase cards are fucking awesome.

If anybody doesn't know the fighters but are curious, find Pancrase: The Best, Vol. 1 & 2. They can be found on torrent sites. Both are just non-stop awesomeness, and will introduce you to all the main guys very quickly.

They were up on Youtube not too long ago but I guess Pancrase made them take them down

Those are great collections, indeed. I was also thrilled to find that the old Pancrase stuff is available on Fight Pass, too. Suffice it to say I've been enjoying revisiting it since I started my subscription.

 

[mrsenor]

Pancrase 15 Years - Endless Pursuit of Perfection



brutal ko @ 26:28 van dijk/kunioku

 

[mrsenor]

VOL.1 HYBRID BODY

 

[mrsenor]

VOL.2 THE SPARRING

 

[mrsenor]

VOL.3 THE THEORY OF PANCRASE

 

[JohnMc]

I loved Pancrase. I think the main beef with people saying Pancrase wasn't "real mma" is not because of the rules, it's because it was rigged.

There wasn't as many rigged fights as many people like to think. The fighters did have an agreement not to ground n pound either other [since they had monthly events at the time] Hardly rigging. Just made the fights more like sparring matches. I thought it was better because it emphasised technical work.

 

[eseseses681]

Remember all those old "Shooto vs. Pancrase" cards that were big deals on the Japanese scene, and how the Shooto guys would always win? It'd be like, "It was a big weekend here in Japan, and the big feature was the large Shooto vs. Pancrase event, in which Pancrase went 2-7 against Shooto."
Good times.

 

[JacJeanFinger]

Before PRIDE took off, PANCRASE VS RINGS was what the JMMA was all about. Shooto was more like amateur organization.

I'm not sure if people here are interested, here's the story.

[Fuji TV was seeking opportunities to expand their MMA contents after years of success with K-1. They talked with many prospects and PANCRASE was a strong candidate. One of their meetings took place at a bar where a female friend of Sakata (RINGS) worked. She overheard all the details of their conversation in which Pancrase guys were convincing Fuji TV producers to believe RINGS promotes worked fights, discrediting the competitor for their own survival.

Sakata informed Maeda about what they talked and Maeda went nuts. Subsequently, Maeda summoned every possible sport journalist and reporter at a conference and vowed to destroy Pancrase. "5 best guys from each organization will battle at showdown and the loser will retire from the industry permanently." Maeda was serious.

Pancrase had their own reaction at the next event. Takahashi (who just beat Wallid Ismail) grabbed a mic on the ring and said "How about Maeda and I, one vs one? He'd better back off now because I don't guarantee his life." Sounds like Pro-Wrestling, doesn't it?

And there goes next RINGS event where Maeda declined Takahashi's challenge and called out Suzuki instead. Sakata stepped in the ring with an emotional message "Everyone, no worries. I will let no Pancrase guys touch Maeda". (He kept his promise indeed. After Maeda's retirement, Sakata escorted him everywhere he would go. He was always with Maeda to protect him from Punkrase ambush attacks......the only guy he failed to watch out was Yoji Anjo who was a friend with them.)

The crisis ended in a premature ending when PRIDE became so powerful that they had no choice but stick together to compete with a newly rising promotion. Frank Shamrock formed alliance with TK Kosaka and he fought in RINGS against Tamura. Suzuki highly complimented Kosaka when he fought in Pancrase. ]


Bonus: This is how you treat your boy to get him to say in 2 years "I'll stake my life to protect you".

Sakata is the guy in yellow trunks.

 

[LiveFreeorDie]

Went from VHS tapes of early UFCs to a 4 year break until I was watching pirated satellite channels and asked myself "What is Mark Coleman doing in a ring?" 2000 on was great watching Pride. Still haven't watched all the UFCs that happened between 1996 - 2007.